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A Concert of Bluegrass Music by J.P. Mathes and Kentucky School of Bluegrass

Hiltons, VA -- Saturday, April 7th, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, will present a concert of bluegrass music by J.P. Mathes and the Kentucky School of Bluegrass Ensemble. Admission to the concert is $7 for adults, $1 for children 6 to 11, under age 6 free. J.P. Mathes was born in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and began playing banjo and guitar while he was in middle school. While attending high school, he was allowed to join the ETSU Bluegrass Program. He later received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from ETSU. As a student, he was featured on many CD and DVD recordings. J.P. has been all over the world playing bluegrass. He's performed at the Smithsonian Folk Festival, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium - and toured Japan seven times.

J.P. served as a graduate assistant for the ETSU Bluegrass Program. He later served as an adjunct instructor - J.P. taught ensemble, banjo, group guitar, and bluegrass seminar. Currently the ensemble director for the Hazard Community and Technical College's Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music, he also performs with an international bluegrass group called Takeharu Kunimoto & the Last Frontier which tours throughout the U.S. and Japan. Mathes is a part of the American Bluegrass Masters Tour which features such talent as Bobby Osborne, J.D. Crowe, and many other bluegrass greats.

Hazard Community College's Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music is a two-year institution which offers an associate's degree in bluegrass and traditional music. Students of the KSBTM focus on three areas of study - music performance, music business, and sound recording. Faculty includes J.P. Mathes, Dean Osborne, Grammy award winner Curtis Burch, Grand Ole Opry legend Bobby Osborne, and Bobby Osborne, Jr.

The KSBTM student ensemble represents the performance aspect of study and boasts three touring ensembles. The KSBTM opened in August of 2007 and has already brought students to southwestern Kentucky from California, Washington, Vermont, North Dakota, Texas, and many other locations. For more info on the KSBTM, please visit http://hazard.kctcs.edu/.

Performing on April 7th will be students Josh Petulli on guitar, Starlit Lorentzen on fiddle, Ben Noble on guitar, Andy Hunt on banjo, and Jasper Lorentzen on bass. Special guests performing with J.P. Mathes and KSBTM students will include Dean Osborne on banjo, Leona on fiddle, and Aaron Jackson on guitar.

For some of the finest bluegrass music the southeast has to offer, don't miss the Kentucky School of Bluegrass Ensemble at the Fold. There will be traditional bluegrass tunes, lively fiddle tunes and instrumentals, gospel tunes, and beautiful harmony. Don't forget your dancing shoes, and be sure to bring along your friends!

Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Incorporated, is a nonprofit, rural arts organization established to preserve traditional, acoustic, mountain music. For further information on the center, go to www.CarterFamilyFold.org. Shows from the Carter Family Fold can be accessed on the internet at www.CarterFoldShow.com.

Carter Music Center is part of the Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail. You can visit the Crooked Road Music Trail site at TheCrookedRoad.org. Partial funding for programs at the center is provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on Saturday's concert, contact the Mountain Music Museum at 276-645-0035. For recorded information on shows coming up at the Fold, call 276-386-6054.